Saturday, 9 May 2009

Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes

I had promised that my next recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook would be the Nutty Apple Loaf but don’t get me started on that!! I went ahead and baked the said recipe and everything was great until I turned out the loaf and ended up with half of the loaf in the tin and half on the cooling rack. So I won’t be making that mistake next time I use that recipe. Besides how it looks, the loaf itself is truly delicious and full of flavour and I will be making it again (I will not be defeated)! Because the loaf was less than photogenic I decided to make up for it by trying out another recipe from the book and opted for these Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes were quick to whip up and the sponge on them is super light and fluffy and bursting with so much flavour. What makes these cupcakes even yummier is the chocolate frosting that is swirled on and finished off with chocolate sprinkles. These more than make up for my mini baking disaster with the loaf!


Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
A pinch of salt
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
120ml whole milk
2 eggs (medium)
120g peeled banana, mashed

Chocolate Frosting
300g icing sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
40g cocoa powder, sifted
40ml whole milk
40g dark chocolate, grated with a cheese grater into shavings or sprinkles of choice

A 12-hole cupcake tray, lined with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 170oC/325oF/Gas 3.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture, beating well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Add the eggs and beat well (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula).

Stir in the mashed bananas by hand until evenly dispersed.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the Chocolate Frosting on top and finish with chocolate shavings or sprinkles.

Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Turn the mixer down to slow speed. Add the milk to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

28 comments:

Caroline said...

They look really, really good Maria, and co-incidentally I bought The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook today. It was calling to me off the shelves, and it would have been rude to resist ;-) I'm looking forward to browsing through it later on and baking something yummy!

Beth (jamandcream) said...

I need the book!!

Oh my! Apple pie! said...

Sorry to hear about your cake disaster, I hate it when that happens.
I love the sound of the chocolate frosting, I adore banana and choc together.

Heather said...

These cupcakes are adorable! I want one. Thank you for sharing the recipes with us.

Reeni said...

These look so yummy! Especially with that perfect and delicious frosting on top!!!

JillyB said...

Don't you just hate it when things go wrong? Sorry it happened to you but those cupcakes look like they more than made up for it!

Rhyleysgranny said...

Oh isn't it awful when disaster strikes. Your cupcakes look so good. Perfect. Sounds a lovely combination of flavours. I keep hearing about this book. I must take a trip to Amazon.

Finla said...

A perfect combo and i am sure it was supe yummy too.
Happy Mother's Day.

Nickki said...

Sorry to hear about the loaf tin disaster, isn't it a pain when that happens? :( Still, these cupcakes look gorgeous! I love the banana/chocolate combo.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

How disappointing about the loaf. I can just imagine the look on your face as it happened, well maybe the look on my face if it happened to me, but these cupcakes more than made up for it, i'd say :)

Katiecakes said...

I was just reading my Hummingbird book with a cup of tea and I stopped at this recipe twice. They look amazing!

Katie xox

MaryBeth said...

YUMM-O I love adding choc. chips to banana bread. Looks Wonderful!

Mermaid Sews said...

Awesome, I was going to look for a bannana chocolate recipe tonight.

The Caked Crusader said...

Chocolate sprinkles are my current favourite thing. Why are they sooooooo tasty?

Abitofafoodie said...

Ooh - your cupcakes look just perfect. Banana and chocolate - what a yummy combination!

The Girl said...

I've had so many baking disasters I couldn't even tell you. Hence why I decided I couldn't do it and have only made a return to it now that I'm in my mid-20s!

The cupcakes look like they definitely made up for it though!

♥Rosie♥ said...

Oh my goodness my mouth is watering at these little beauties! They look wonderful and I love this book too.

Rosie x

George said...

I've got these bookmarked as my next try from this book. I just want to cook my way through it.

Sorry to hear about the cake disaster, I'm sure it still tasted great though and those muffins look divine.

Anne said...

Ooh yum yum yum, those sound and look so delicious!

x

Ann said...

lso yummy and love this recipe.. thanks for sharing

Maria♥ said...

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments.

Maria
x

Lia "short courses"Scott said...

i like your blog and the contents inside your blog soo cutteee..

a4 printers said...

i just really love the frosting.. chocolaty yum yum!

Bimmer said...

wow! looks really good!

Anonymous said...

You mentioned adding milk to the flour mixture, but you don't say how much. Could you please let us know? Thanks!

Maria♥ said...

Opps forgot to add the milk amount in the ingredients list..I have now added it.

Maria
x

Darren the baking dad said...

I received The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook as a gift, and made the Banana & Choc cupcakes as well. My first batch didnt work out, but my second batch were delicious. Its very very important to mix the butter and flour mix long enough so it comes out looking like sand. I was dissapointed at first, as the cup cakes didnt rise, but I read in the book that its meant to be spongy. Delicious.

Anonymous said...

I love these cupcakes - my favourite so far from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook! When I made them I added chocolate chips in the batter, which worked well!